POSTING GUIDELINES
Revised January 16, 2002


SMILIES, ACTIONS, AND ACRONYMS
Please use smileys or actions (things like <ducking and laughing> or <mounting soapbox>) to help others understand the tone of voice or facial expression you're using.  A simple :-) can save a lot of ruffled feathers if your words could be taken the wrong way.  If you're unfamiliar with smileys, actions, or acronyms (things like RTFM and ROFL), you'll find a fabulous guide here.  


POSTING
List members are currently limited to posting 7 messages per day to cut down on chatting (which should be done on the list’s IRC channel).  Please send “me too" messages directly to the person you are agreeing with, if they don’t contain any new information for the group.

Please remember that when replying to a post, you should remove all unnecessary text from the previous post.  A good rule of thumb is to leave the last paragraph of text you are referring to.  Anyone reading the conversation will understand what exactly you are replying to, and will appreciate not having to scroll through the entire previous message again.

Please also make sure that if you use a signature file when posting to the list, that it contains a maximum of 4 lines of text.


REDISTRIBUTING POSTS
The redistribution of list posts to non-members is prohibited without prior approval of the admins.


ATTACHMENTS
Attachments to list posts are not permitted, and will be rejected by the server.  If you would like to share a file with the group, but do not have access to web space, please email admin@hamtech.org to arrange for the file to be stored on the server.


OFF-TOPIC POSTS
Topics not specifically covered by the list’s Hammond/Leslie focus do occasionally need to be discussed.  These off-topic posts are permitted, but should have “OT” or “Offtopic” at the beginning of their subject lines.


CAPS LOCK
Please, leave the caps lock off.  WRITING IN CAPS is understood as shouting, and causes offense to be taken quickly.  Of course, this does not apply to list members with vision problems.


FLAMES, FLAME WARS, ETC.
Flames are aggressive insults aimed at embarrassing or upsetting the target in public.  These are unpleasant for all involved, and should not be posted.  If you’re having problems with another list member and can’t work it out on your own, please let the admins know, rather than causing a flame war.

On the same lines, if you see a flame war break out, please don’t jump in with guns blazing.  Your intentions may be good, but the end result will just be a bigger brawl.  Get the admins’ attention, and let them sort it out.


SPAM
Spam is unsolicited mass-emailed advertising…the electronic version of junk mail, frequently seen advertising get rich quick schemes.  Addresses of list subscribers are not available to be harvested by spammers.  Subscribers are expected to refrain from forwarding spam to the list.


VIRUS WARNINGS
Virus warnings tend to be hoaxes more frequently than real threats.  Please forward any warnings to the list admins to be checked out, rather than to the list.

The exception to this rule is if you receive a message from someone on the list, and your antivirus software identifies it as being infected.  If you know one of the group is infected, please post to let the list know.


ADVERTISING AND SOLICITING
Posting wanted or for sale advertisements for your personal gear is encouraged.  Please remember to include your rough geographical location, as something that’s a great deal in your neighborhood may be a lousy deal after shipping from the other end of the country.

Businesses are asked to limit their advertising via the list to contact information in their signature (which should be limited to a maximum of 4 lines of text).  We encourage them to send their contact information and a brief description of their goods/services to the FAQ maintainer at faq@hamtech.org for inclusion in the FAQ’s parts and service supplier’s list.

LIST ADMINISTRATION
Any questions or concerns about administration or operation of the list should be sent directly to the admins, not to the list.

When necessary, the administrators will disable an offender’s posting privileges for a period of 7 or 14 days.  Repeated or extreme offences will result in the list member’s permanent removal.


Ad & Lars
The Hammond List Admins
admin@hamtech.org